I was tapping the steering wheel incessantly— I couldn’t calm down. Getting my nerves out physically by tinkering was the only thing that helped me.

But Finn grabbed my hand, peeling my fingers away from it, letting me steer with only my other hand.

“Baby, you need to relax, seriously,” he said as he held my hand. “It’s all going to be okay.”

But I wasn’t so sure of that. How could he know that?

I prayed he was right—that I was overthinking all of this, that my parents were going to be happy and welcome us with open arms, and that this would be a happy moment for me.

That was what it was supposed to be. I hated that I even had to feel worried like this! This was supposed to be the best moment of my life. It was a joyous occasion to find your fated mate, and usually families celebrated that intensely. So, to be stressed about telling them was heartbreaking. It wasn’t how I wanted to feel.

But I tried to put a brave face on for Finn. Because I wanted it to feel like the best time in his life, too. I didn’t want to bring him down with my stress.

When we arrived at my parents’ house, I had to steady my breath.

“We’re really going to do this?” Finn looked at me. “You know, it’s not too late to back out.”

“No, no, they’re expecting us for lunch,” I told him.

There wasn’t anything unusual about us stopping by together, either. It wasn’t like my parents were suspicious of this, not in the slightest. Whenever we were in the city, we’d come by. They knew how close we were. To them, this was just any old lunch to catch up.

And I was about to drop a major bomb on them.

“Well, we could have lunch and just not tell them. Act like everything is normal between us.”

“But it’s not normal between us,” I told him. “And like I said before, you are not a secret. You are not someone of whom I’m ashamed. And I’m not going to let the fear of my parents’ reaction turn you into that.”

He nodded. “Okay, let’s do this, then.”

I gave one quick nod back. “Let’s.”

I knocked on the red wooden door and tried not to seem antsy as my mother answered it.

“Jesse, sweetheart!” She kissed my cheek. “And Finn, darling, come on in, both of you! The stew isn’t going to be done for another twenty minutes.”

“It’s totally fine, Mom,” I told her as we walked into the living room.

“Have a seat, have a seat!” she said emphatically, as she sat in her usual red armchair. Finn and I took our seats on the couch across from her.

“So, how have things been at the guard? I haven’t seen you guys in months—tell me about your lives!”

In a way, her sweet disposition put me at ease. She was always sweet, of course, but it was a reminder of how much she not only cared about me, but Finn, as well. She really couldn’t take this that badly, right? She was still going to love and accept us both.

“Actually, Mom, that’s exactly why we came down today. Something pretty major has happened in our lives.” I told her.

She grinned. “Oh, oh, is it promotions?! Please tell me you’ve got promotions!”

“No, it’s not a promotion.” I looked around. “Dad is here, right?”

“Oh, yes, he’s mowing the lawn out back. He’ll be in for lunch, though. Why? You want him right now?”

“Yeah, actually. I kind of wanted to tell you guys together.”

Her eyes widened. “It's that important, huh?”

“Yeah… it is,” I said softly.

She looked even more ecstatic at hearing this. “I’ll go get him right now!”

She got up from her chair and headed down the hall. When I heard the door to the backyard open and shut, I let out a shaky sigh. Finn rubbed my back gently.

“It’s all going to be fine. Just relax. You’re being really brave about all this, getting right to the point.”

I shrugged. “Well, I really see no other way to do it.”

When we heard the backdoor open again, Finn dropped his hand, and my parents both came in the room with smiles. No doubt my mother had told him I had good news. Though, I’d never specified it was good news…

Though, it was. No matter what they thought about it, it was the best news I could ever have had.

“Mom, Dad, I came to tell you that I’ve found my fated mate.”

Both of their jaws dropped, and my mom squealed as she ran across the room and gave me a tight hug.

“Oh my goodness, baby, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for this moment! You’re finally going to make some headway on me becoming a grandmother?!” She kept squeezing tightly.

“I hope so,” I smiled at her.

My father came over and gave me a swift pat on the shoulder.

“You were a late bloomer son, later than your mom and I had been expecting. I’ll admit, we got a little nervous at times, thought maybe you weren’t ever going to find the right one. But we could not be happier that you’re finally settling down.”

“Great,” I said awkwardly, as I tried to figure the best way to segue into the fact that the right one was Finn.

Thankfully, they made it a little easier for me.

“So,” my mother began as she sat back down, “when do we get to meet the lucky lady?”

“Well, actually, there is no lady,” I said, trying to find the words to clarify.

They both looked at each other, and then they looked at me in confusion.

“I don’t understand, but you just said…” My father let his sentence trail off as he waited for an explanation.

I found the words catching in my throat. My anxiety was full throttle now, and Finn noticed, because he immediately took over for me, realizing it was too much for me to say it to them.

He grabbed my hand. “It’s me, actually. I’m his fated mate!” he said in a perky tone.

Their jaws dropped again, but, this time, the vibe was completely different.

“What?” my dad asked blankly.

“Yeah. I’ve discovered that my fated mate is Finn.” I nodded.

My mom rolled her eyes. “Oh, I get it. Haha, guys. This isn’t a very funny joke, Jesse. You know how badly I want you to meet someone! You’re going to get us all excited like that for a prank!”

My heart sank. They didn’t even believe me.

“Mom…” I whispered. “It’s not a prank. I’m really in a relationship with Finn. This is no joke.”

“B-but… how is that possible?!” my dad asked in a raised voice. “You've known each other all your lives. How would you not know this sooner? People discover their fated mate when they meet them.”

“I don’t know. We’ve been trying to figure that out ourselves,” I admitted. “But, truth be told, I just don’t know. All I know is it hit us like a train, and we’re positive now that we’re mates.”

“Well, maybe you’re wrong. This doesn’t sound like any fated mates situation I’ve ever heard,” my mom said.

“Yeah, your mother’s right. This would be a weird way to find your fated mate. Maybe you guys are just lonely from, you know, not finding the right woman out there for you. And now you’re getting all confused—”

“I am absolutely not confused.” My disappointment rose to anger. “I know that he’s my fated mate. I know it in my soul. How would you feel if your parents had told you that believing Mom was your fated mate was a mistake?”

They both shrank back at this, realizing how bad it sounded. Good, they should, they were being awful.

“We’re just trying to help,” my mom said lightly.

“How is this helpful to me?” I asked. “How is telling me I’m wrong about my fated mate going to help anything? I’m not wrong, Mom. I know that Finn’s my mate. And I can see you’re not happy about it.”

They looked at one another, trying to assess each other’s feelings.

“It’s just… the alpha and omega thing is kind of weird, you know? It’s not really what we expected for either of you,” my dad said.

“Weird, great. Exactly how we wanted our relationship described.” I rolled my eyes.

“I mean, you’ve always dated women,” my mom added. “Both of you have. So, of course, that is what we expected. And, really, why couldn’t you keep dating women?”

I scoffed. “Are you kidding? I just told you, he’s my fated mate, you guys. You want me to ignore the fact that I’ve found my soul mate to go keep hooking up with women so you guys are more comfortable?”

They were quiet for a moment.

“You know what? We’re just going to go,” I told them. “Enjoy your stew.”

“Hey, wait, you guys don’t need to do that,” my dad said in a casual tone, as if he didn't understand why I was offended.

I looked at Finn. “We really do. Can we go?”

He nodded. “Sure, of course, whatever you want.” He turned to my parents politely. “It was nice to see you,” he lied.

“Nice to see you, too,” they said cordially, though it was obviously a far cry from the way he’d been greeted when he’d entered the house.

I was disgusted with them. I’d expected this. I’d known they’d thought gay relationships were weird, but I’d thought they could have made an exception for their only son.

Finn rubbed my back as we left the house. “Well, that wasn’t as bad as it could have been,” he said softly.

“Not as bad as it could have been?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “Finn, they called us weird.”

“Yeah, but they could’ve gone on a rampage and told you that you were disowned and that they never wanted to see you again. It’s a shock. They’re gonna come around, baby.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. And I wasn’t feeling nearly as positive about their reaction as he was.

But maybe that was just a defense mechanism of his. Especially because our next stop was his family’s house. After the disaster that had been telling my parents, I was sure he was pretty nervous about that.

“Do you want to go to your parents’ now?” I asked. “Or, do you want to go grab some lunch somewhere first?”

“No, no.” He shook his head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

I gave him a sympathetic smile. “Yeah, no problem.”

I could understand that he had anxiety after getting a bad reaction from my parents, but, honestly, I didn’t think he had a reason. His parents weren’t like mine. They both had gay friends. They were pretty LGBT-friendly.

But, when we arrived at his parents’ house, he tapped his foot just as rapidly as I’d tapped my steering wheel.

I put a gentle hand on his thigh. “Babe, relax. This is going to be nothing like seeing my parents. If anything, this is probably going to be relief from the way my parents reacted.”

“Yeah… yeah, you’re probably right,” he answered, though he didn’t seem sure.

When we got to the door of his parents’ house, their reaction was a lot more subdued. They weren’t as gregarious as my parents, though they’d always been sweet in their own right.

It was his dad who opened the door. “Oh, hey guys, we weren’t expecting you for a couple hours.”

“I know,” Finn said. “Is it alright that we’re early?”

“Yeah, of course, come on in.”

We did, and his mother was reading a book on the couch.

“Oh, you’re here already,” she said, as she put the book down and sat up. His dad sat next to her, and we took seats across from them.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” his dad asked.

“Well…” Finn’s voice was shaky. “Jesse and I actually both wanted to tell you that… we’re together.”

I was expecting smiles and was surprised when they looked on at us straight-faced.

“What do you mean?” his mom asked.

“I mean, Jesse is my fated mate,” he took my hand the same way he had at my parents’ house, “so we’re mated to each other.”

“Oh,” his father said softly.

Wow, this wasn’t the reaction I’d expected at all. So, Finn actually had something to worry about.

“Wait, does this bother you?” I asked. “I mean, I’m just kind of surprised because you guys have always been so supportive of your gay friends and family before.”

“Oh, of course we don’t care that you guys are gay,” his mother said. “It’s not that. It’s just that… Finn, darling, we thought you were a beta.”

His dad nodded in agreement. “All your life, son, you’ve been a beta. That’s what we’ve known you as. And you’re saying now that you’re actually an omega?”

He looked down at the ground and nodded. “Yes, yeah… I am. That’s disappointing to you guys?”

“It’s just that we’ve raised you your whole life thinking you were one thing, and you’ve completely flipped the script on us now. This is kind of a lot to take in.”

Finn looked horrified. I tried my best to defuse the situation.

“I mean… he hasn’t really flipped anything,” I told them. “Nothing about him has changed. He’s the same person he’s always been— the same son he’s always been. Nothing about being an omega makes him very different.”

His father, a proud beta, widened his eyes at me. “Omegas and betas are extremely different.”

“Yes, it’s just… an adjustment,” his mother said tersely.

I couldn’t believe they‘d reacted this way. I was horrified. Even more, I was heartbroken for Finn. I put my hand on his back.

This was everything he’d been worried about. It was what he’d expressed the night he’d said that he was okay with our relationship, that it had flipped the entire way he viewed himself. Now I could see why he thought that. Evidently in his house, these roles were taken more seriously than I’d known.

“Look, we’re happy for you,” his dad said.

“Yes, definitely,” his mom smiled, “You two make a very cute couple. We’re very happy you found each other.”

Finn and I both forced a smile and thanked them, but the air was tense. We still had dinner with them, and they actually really did seem happy that we were together, asking us about things like when we thought we might get married, how excited they were to be grandparents.

But I couldn’t forget what they’d said about Finn’s identity, and I could see he wasn’t forgetting it, either. I could see it on his face—this had hurt him.

As soon as we left after dinner and got into the car, I was sure to remind him of everything I had told him earlier.

“You know you’re really not any different, right?” I asked. “Your parents are absolutely wrong. You’re the same person you’ve always been.”

He nodded. “I know. I really do. It just hurts to get that reaction from them. I can see they’re disappointed I’m not the beta they thought they knew. It just… stings.”

I pulled him in for a tight hug, kissing him on the forehead. “I love you, you know that? And all this crap with our parents, we’ll get through it. It’s completely worth it if I get to be with you.”

He nodded. “It is. And your parents will come around, I’m sure of it.” He gave me a quick peck.

I hoped he was right.